Silverbow

by Shannon Simmons

  “Not sure. I woke up out here like this,” I replied as I reached up for the sun visor and unfolded it to reveal a mirror. My eyes widened and I nearly shoved it back into the roof of the cab when my reflection stared back at me. I managed to keep my composure and used my own saliva to dampen the napkins and clean my face. The truck growled and pulled back onto Route 375. He kept the cab light on for me so that I could see what I was doing.

  Abnormal piercing jade eyes looked back at me and cheekbones seemed higher or more defined. My face was nearly foreign to me. I wiped crusted blood off of my nose and fore head. Turning my head, I examined where my Smith and Wesson had blown a hole in my head. I was completely healed now and the pain in my temple had already subsided. My long blonde hair was a total disaster but I did take notice to a major difference. Beneath the rust colored stains that streaked it, lingered new strands of white. It was like the scary movies when someone sees a ghost and their hair turns white. I wrinkled my nose and tried to comb my fingers through my hair but it was no use.

  “What do you remember last,” he asked as he shifted his gaze back and forth between me and the road.

  “An animal attack,” I said in a muffled tone and his eyes grew wide.

  “Damn girl, you are lucky! Have you heard of all the animal killings out here lately? You actually survived!”

  “Lucky me,” I whispered and returned to trying to make myself look half way decent. I’d need a shower before I was any less revolting.

  “What did it look like,” he asked extremely curious.

  “Like a man in a blue Chevelle. If you see one, run it the fuck over, will ya,” I requested and he looked a bit confused.

  “Oh, so a man did this to you.” I could see the excitement leave his eyes when I didn’t offer a story about some alien monster thrashing me around like a ragdoll. “How bad are you hurt? That’s a lot of blood,” he observed.

  “I’m not sure really,” I admitted as I ran my hands over my arms and down my torso as if checking for injuries. “I kind of hurt all over. Do you think you can take me Silverbow,” I asked.

  “Darlin’, I’ll drop you off within a mile of it but I ain’t drivin’ into town. Sorry,” he apologized.

  “I would greatly appreciate that,” I said and smiled. I reached up to turn the light off and darkness washed over us. “How far away are we now,” I asked.

  “About thirty-five miles or so,” he replied and turned to look me over again. I arched a brown when his eyes met mine and any comfort he had with my company drained from his face. “Your…eyes,” he stammered. I turned to look up at my reflection and almost choked. My eyes were glowing softly. Two dim pale green eyes hungrily peered back at me in the mirror. I closed my eyes and rubbed them though I knew nothing was going to change. “What’s wrong with your eyes,” he asked. I could hear the fear in his voice and more than anything else…I could smell it. My nostrils flared and the bitter sweet scent of his panic seduced me and the grumble in the pit of my stomach.

  “I don’t know,” I whispered, keeping my eyes shut. I reached up to tuck my hair behind my ears and stopped when, to my surprise, my ears had become deformed. My fingers trembled over their newly pointed tips. Fucking elf ears? I shoved my hands into my lap so that I wouldn’t find anything else wrong with me but it didn’t take my curious fingers to find my next new trait.

  The driver’s heartbeat began to grow louder and louder until it was thundering in my ears. I turned my face away from him as I tried to focus. I heard him gulp between panicked breaths. “Please, calm down. I am okay,” I tried to reassure him. He didn’t reply and I sat still as I listened to him move. The truck’s speed remained steady and the sound of its engine seemed to fade into the background as I was able to focus on the driver alone. I heard the soft rustle of his shirt and the sound of his flesh patting against the vinyl of his door. Then I noticed a shift in his scent. His fear was still tainting the air but it had slightly faded. When I could hear something slide away from the door and into his lap, I understood why. I was sure he was now holding a gun.

  Anger suddenly pulsed through my temples. I bit into my bottom lip and felt the corner of my mouth pull into a snarl. I tried to exhale deeply and contain my sudden mood swing.

  “Miss, you have me a little worried,” he admitted. He no longer seemed to care that I was hurt. I could tell his concern had shifted to his own safety.

  “Please, calm down. I’m begging you,” I pleaded with him. My stomach began to hurt as though I had not eaten in weeks. I clamped my hands down over it and winced when one hand stabbed the other. I opened my eyes and glanced down at my appalling hands. My fingers had grown slender and my nails had become thick and talon-like. I balled my hands into fists to hide them away and closed my eyes again. I could smell his fear pick back up and I inhaled deeply. The smell left a taunting taste in the back of my throat and my stomach growled or at least I had thought it was my stomach.

  “I’m going to pull over now and let you out,” he informed me as I heard his foot lift from the gas peddle and shift to the break.

  “No,” I growled quietly and the sound of my own voice shocked me. I kept my face turned away from him and tried my best to force myself to relax but the thicker the air became in the cabin, his fear smothering my senses, the more I lost control. I heard him cock the pistol that I knew was in his lap. He was threatening me. He was fucking threatening me. All I wanted was a ride. I swallowed hard and straightened out, turning in my seat to face him. “Please don’t stop,” I asked trying to find my normal voice but failed.

  The truck violently halted, forcing us to lurch forward in our seats and he nearly dropped his gun. Before I could blink he held the pistol even with my chest. “Get the fuck out,” he shouted with a quivering voice. His hand began to shake and his fear began to peak. I allowed my hands to relax and reached for the door handle behind me. I tugged the door open but did not move from my seat. The outside air offered little relief from his scent that taunted my hunger.

  “Please, I just need to get to Silverbow,” I managed to say in a less animalistic tone. He shook his head and pointed the gun at the open door then back at me. I sighed heavily but when it came out as a guttural growl he fired. Having heard his finger squeeze down on the trigger and the hammer lift, I was able to move with unnatural speed and grace to dodge the screaming bullet. Everything suddenly seemed to move in slow motion. I slammed against the dash and windshield as the bullet grazed the sleeve of my leather jacket and missed my shoulder.

  I cried out as I felt every bone in my body ripple and shift, on the verge of snapping in two. My back hunched and my neck lengthened. A supernatural strength flowed into my arms and legs as I braced myself against the inside walls of the cabin and my cry changed into a rabid barking howl as I convulsed for a split second. Before he could re-aim and fire again, my carnal fever took over me and I was on his thrashing frame.

  He fought wildly beneath me but with two lithe hands and a sickening snap, his neck went limp along with the rest of his body. My body slid around his as I sat over his lap, facing his carcass with the steering wheel at my back. I pushed his head back and watched it roll forward with wicked pleasure and then buried my face in his neck. His fear and panic seasoned flesh made my stomach growl as I let my tongue trace his nonexistent pulse. Hunger surfaced and defeated any human instincts I once had as I drew my head back and then brought my mouth back to his throat; tearing it, ripping it and devouring every last bit.

  As I fed the starved animal inside of me, my mind went numb to my surroundings. The driver’s side door was suddenly yanked completely off its hinges and sent flying into the desert. I barely looked up and my new instincts fought against me as I tried to stop feeding and turn to see what was going on. When I was finally able to tear my mouth from the corpse, I witnessed another creature snarling only inches from my face as he hung in the doorway.

  CHAPTER 14

  Incandescent fierce blue eyes bore a hole straight to th
e back of my skull with rage. I felt blood gush from my mouth as my lips peeled back and I snarled at the creature. Its elongated muzzle wrinkled as he bared his razor sharp teeth and growled deeply. Suddenly hands were on me and we both fell away from the truck and smacked into the pavement below.

  My body rolled a couple of feet away as the animal pushed off of me and I found myself on all fours. I watched as it paced back and forth in front of me on two legs, hunched over and sneering. Pointed ears, glowing eyes, razor sharp claws, strong hands, a demonic snout and the size of a man; I should have been running away scared. However, a burning desire to defend that which was mine had me hunched over and ready to gut my opponent. My mind buzzed with the realization that this is what I must look like now; a monster.

  “My turf,” hissed the creature through a tight jaw and I was slightly taken aback that it was communicating with me. I began to pace back and forth, mirroring the beast and shook my head. It jolted forward and flipped me over to my back with its claws dug deep into my shoulders and I howled out in pain. “These are my hunting grounds,” it barked in my face and I remained on the ground beneath it without a reply.

  The gut churning growl in the beast’s chest began to let up as the animal leaned into me and began to sniff. After a moment or two, its hold on me was released. Sauntering away from me and allowing me to pick myself up off the ground, it began to laugh. It started off as a choppy growl and turned into something a little more human. I stood there confused as my anger started to subside and the tension that had taken over my whole body earlier started to release. Confusion took its place.

  I fell to my knees when my body shifted again and fire flared down my spine. My back felt straight again and I could easily roll my neck once more. I coughed and watched as blood sprayed over my human hand. Ignoring the blood, I was happy to see my wicked witch hands were gone. My ears itched and as I scratched them I noticed they too had changed back.

  The only thing that had not changed back was my senses and I became acutely aware of the fact that my opponent was now inching towards me, his laughter had stopped and his heartbeat was increasing. Still quick on my feet, I stood straight up and cut my eyes at him. My gaze quickly widened when I found someone I knew standing before me naked and smiling.

  The town’s beloved teacher, Mr. Hines had a look of bewilderment in his eyes and an amused smile smeared his lips.

  “Are you fucking kidding me,” I whispered and let my body relax as I felt my gun against my side under my jacket. I wondered if that was really all I had to say. I had been brutally violated, forced to shoot myself in the head, left for the vultures in the desert, turned into a fucking freak, ate a man and now this. There was little that could shock me at the moment.

  “My, my….look what we have here,” he said as he reached out and patted my shoulder. I shrugged away from him and he held his hands up. “Now, now. I’m not going to hurt you,” he assured me and laughed. He glanced down at himself and smirked. “Don’t be shy. You’ve seen it before,” he taunted and then turned around to jog across the road. He collected something off the ground and slid into it. He returned wearing black coveralls and flip flops.

  “Really,” I asked sarcastically and arched a brow. He nodded and flashed his charming smile.

  “I had no idea that you had matured, Miss Dakota” he said as he walked to the truck and leaned against the front grill.

  “Matured,” I asked as I remained in the middle of the road. It had to be after midnight and I was sure that playing in traffic was the least of my worries.

  “Matured, changed, shifted…” Hines’s look made me wonder if he thought I knew something I didn’t. I shook my head as though I were not catching on to what he was talking about. A big smile spread across his handsome face and he crossed his arms over his chest. “You have no idea what’s going on, you do?”

  “Care to fucking fill me in,” I asked and tossed my hands up.

  “Wow. I figured you would have been informed by now since both of your parents were shifters,” he started. My eyes widened and I almost choked.

  “My parents were what?”

  “Come on, Dakota. You don’t think this town was really created out here in the middle of no where by low life ex convicts without a penny to their names, do you? They had to have a major start to get it rolling. Someone knew about them. Someone knew their secret, their strength and the strength of keeping their secret. That fence line didn’t come without incentives and…threats.” My head was spinning and I was ready to puke. He pushed away from the truck and jogged over to me as I keeled over and vomited. After everything that happened tonight, this was what would make me sick?

  “Tell me you are kidding,” I said against the back of my hand as I wiped my mouth. He rested a hand on my back as he held my hair back and kept on with the lesson.

  “Once the government learned about us they figured they could use it to their advantage. In order to keep ourselves a secret we hid behind the grey cloaks of sinners to keep people out of our town. The government supported that and fed funds into the town. They gave us jobs watching their test sites because it was a trade: their silence for ours. If you only knew half of the shit that goes on out there! Civilians have their suspicions but they haven’t even begun to graze the top of the iceberg.”

  “Get to the point, Hines,” I commanded through a clinched jaw.

  “Werewolves, love. Werewolves.” I stood straight and cut my eyes at him. I wanted to beat the shit out of him for lying to me but after tonight’s events I wasn’t sure that he was lying. “Your father didn’t mature until your mother came along. Those of us with one Were parent can change when we are young, some in our 30’s and some never do. A rare few have the genes from both parents and don’t mature until they are bitten. It usually happens when they meet their mate,” his last sentence was spoken softly and I arched a brow.

  “This doesn’t mean I am fucking you again,” I snapped and he shook his head.

  “Who bit you,” he asked bluntly. I turned on heel and started walking in the direction on Silverbow. He was on my heels, not allowing me to walk away from the question. “It was that stranger, wasn’t it? I knew he smelled like a wet dog.”

  “Murphy,” I replied without slowing. “He fucking ate me alive, shot me in the head and left me out here. Some way to fucking mature.”

  “Dakota, not all of us get to make the change with the help of a pack or a teacher. Most people are left to do it alone. It weeds out the weak and forces you to cope with it hardcore. If you are strong, you survive,” he informed me.

  “Then why are you helping me,” I growled and refused to look at him.

  “I had no idea I was going to run into you out here. I was hunting and well…” he shrugged. “Would you like me to go away,” he asked.

  “Hunting…” I whispered and stopped dead in my tracks. “Out here,” I asked and he nodded with a curious look in his eyes. “Are you the fucking E.T. Murderer,” I asked bluntly and his curiosity faded into the look of a guilty man.

  “A man’s got to eat,” he said shamefully. “I can’t do animals. I vomit every time. Its human or I starve!”

  “For fuck’s sake, Hines!” My hand’s rubbed my face and then clasped over my mouth as my eyes went wide again. “Mrs. Yates?”

  “No. Oh, no, no, no!” He waved his hands in front of himself defensively. “That was not me. I swear to God, that was not me. Smell her, it wasn’t me. I promise.”

  “Smell her,” I asked with a disgusted look. “She is rotting by now.”

  “She smelled like wet cedar,” he claimed.

  “Wet cedar,” I asked and started walking again.

  “We all have our own scent…” he schooled me and matched my pace.

  “Let me guess, I smell like roses!”

  “Actually…” he mumbled and something dawned on me.

  The necklace my father had given me came to mind. I could almost hear Murphy speaking, “Desert Rose”. Reality was s
tarting to sink in and before I knew it I was running. My father had known all this time and never told me before he died. Why didn’t he? What was he waiting for? Would he have deserted me too? Wait…he did. I suddenly hated my father. I already hated my mother but I found myself hating her even more. I feverishly thought of who else knew about this and before I knew it my thoughts had outrun me and I was on my knees in the middle of the desert.

  Tears streamed down my cheeks and my senses flared wildly. “You better calm down or you are going to frenzy,” he said in his calm and collected voice. He wasn’t even out of breath. “Frenzy or change…whatever you wish to call it.”

  “Who else,” I asked.

  “I’m only sure of a few. I know ninety percent of Silverbow has the genes but I am not sure who has made the shift. You can smell it on them, you’ll see.” He placed his strong hands on me and lifted me back to my feet. I stood before him and tried not to pass out. Focusing on his blue eyes, I calmed my nerves and took a deep breath. “I was pretty certain that you had not shifted yet when we met. Your nature wasn’t pouring into the bedroom yet. You will find sex to be much more enjoyable now,” he laughed.